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Modernisation of police control room hits roadblock

— Photo: T. Singaravelou

Waiting for overhaul: A view of the police control room inside the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police.

PUDUCHERRY: Modernisation of the police control room has hit a roadblock owing to lack of space at the present office, situated in a small block inside the Senior Superintendent of Police (Crime and Intelligence) Complex.

Efforts by the Police Department to install hi-tech communication gadgets had been “temporarily shelved” due to scarcity of space, Director General of Police A.S. Khan told The Hindu.

The control room, considered as the nerve centre of all operations carried out by the police, at present functions from a crammed room inside the SSP (C & I) complex, opposite the Pondicherry Municipal office.

The building, partly covered with asbestos sheet, presents an archaic look, with insufficient space for even staff to perform routine duties.

Policemen attached to the control room said the building had developed minor cracks.

During a heavy downpour, the highly sensitive equipment were exposed to rainwater.

Currently, messages are transmitted through analogue process, an outdated way of recording by converting sound waves to electrical signals. The force has been wanting to switch over to digital communication network. However, modernisation work was not taken up due to lack of space for equipment, police officials attached to the headquarters said.

According to senior officials, the control room manages three frequencies, a common one for South and Rural and the other two for North and Traffic. If any of the three developed congestion, then communication became difficult.

The wireless section, functioning from the control room, was recently shifted to another block in the SSP (C&I), though both ideally needed to be under one roof, officials said.

The Police Department had taken up the issue of shifting the control room to another building several times in the past with the government, but did not find a favourable response. “Recently we have asked for the government permission to move the control room to the old court complex, at the time the court proceeding were shifted to the new building on Cuddalore Road, ” officials said.

Notwithstanding the delay in the modernisation of the control room, the Police Department is all set to increase mobile control vehicle units.

Five more mobile vehicles would be inducted for collecting information in Puducherry region. Steps were being taken to increase the manpower in the mobile vehicle units, they said.

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